BUSINESS AVIATION
Bigger airships on the way?
^LONDON
Airship Industries' revenue-
earning passenger service,
which takes sightseers from
Leavesden Airport just
'outside London to vantage
points above the city's tourist
sights, is to be short-lived. It
* will last just eight weeks, after
which the four-passenger
x Skyship 500 will move on to advertising work and the
passenger service will come to
A .an abrupt end.
But the squally showers
that accompanied the J
service's inaugural flight last
week did nothing to dampen
Airship Industries' optimism
^that a profitable airship
passenger service could be set
^up—albeit with a much larger
^'craft.
Airship Industries is a
< member of one of three
consortia which are bidding
for a massive US Navy
i contract to build very large
airships—perhaps over 400ft
long—to carry out surveil
lance work. They would
remain in the air for 30 days
at a stretch and be replen
ished weekly from ships. The
result of the competition
should be known this year,
and could call upon one or two
of the consortia to make
prototypes.
Such a craft would be an
ideal basis for a passenger
airship, according to Nicholas
Greenwood, Airship Indus
tries' commercial and sales
manager. It would carry
250-300 passengers in twin-
aisle seven-abreast layout,
housed in a 100ft long twin-
deck gondola. The cruise
speed would be 70kt and the
maximum speed lOOkt. There
would be no problems with
flying in poor weather,
according to Greenwood.
Airship Industries has its
eye on two markets for the big
airship. One would be ferrying
executives and luxury-class
passengers. US operator
Resorts International already
runs a similar service, using a
Skyship 600 to take gamblers
from the north-eastern USA
to its casinos in Atlantic City,
New Jersey. The other market
would be for scheduled
passenger flights of several
hundred miles in length.
Japan Air Lines is considering
such an operation between
The Skyship 500 will carry 700 passengers in eight weeks of flying over London
Japanese islands, according to
Greenwood.
One attraction of an airship
is the excellent view. Green
wood says that large picture
windows would be fitted, as in
the Skyship 500, and he
expects that window seats
would command a premium
price. The craft would be
flown low enough to give the
passengers a good view and to
allow advertising on the side
of the airship's hull to be
clearly visible from the
ground. Advertising would be
a secondary source of income.
Greenwood is confident
that an airship service would
find customers. Capturing
even 1 per cent of the market
would be plenty. "If everyone
flew just once we would be
extremely happy," he says.
Greenwood believes that
Airship Industries is
"extremely well-placed" to
win the US Navy contract. It
would be a costly programme
and, though figures have yet
to be released, early studies
have shown that 48 military
craft carrying sophisticated
electronic equipment devel
oped to do a similar job would
cost over $4 billion. The
airships would be made in the
USA, though Airship Indus
tries intends to retain design
work in Britain.
If the British company loses
the competition, it will seek
capital from the private sector
to develop a large passenger
craft which could embody
know-how acquired through
the US Navy competition.
Airship Industries would ask
the British Government for
launch aid. It claims that the
project would generate a
significant number of jobs in
Britain. "This would be a
major civil aviation project,"
says Greenwood.
Meanwhile, the firm
stresses that the Skyship 500
is the only airship in the world
permitted to carry fare-paying
passengers. Airship Industries
has nine airships working in
the USA, Britain, Japan, and
Australia. Three will be
competing on July 5 in the
Daily News Great Blimp Race
round New York, the finish
being over the Statue of
Liberty.
Dassault
accelerates
900 assembly
BORDEAUX ~
French manufacturer Das
sault is planning to increase
production of its new long-
range Falcon 900 tri-jet to
four units per month by the
end of next year.
The aircraft competes
head-on with Gulfstream's
GIV for the trans-continental
business jet market, and has
already achieved French and
US certification to FAR Part
25 Amendment 55, which sets
new standards for damage-
tolerance, composites, and
digital data systems.
The Falcon 900's fuselage is
assembled at Martignas near
Bordeaux, while the wings are
built at Toulouse.
Final assembly takes place
at the company's Merignac
facility, near Bordeaux, along
side the Falcon 50, 200, and
Mirage 2000 fighter.
The 900 will be equipped
with three Garrett TFE-731-
5A engines, Sperry digital
avionics autopilots and
management systems, Collins
navigation and commu
nications equipment, and
Honeywell Lasernav Inertial
Reference Systems.
The first "green" Falcon
900 delivery, Serial No. 3, is
slated for a June ferry to
Little Rock, Arkansas. Deliv
ery to "a major US customer"
will be later this year.
The latest Falcon 900
demonstrator is due to appear
at the Canadian Business Air
craft Association convention
in Vancouver on May 4.
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 3 May 1986 13